ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh says, Banks have been instructed to disburse Pension expeditiously in view of the current COVID pandemic.
The move will lead to “Ease of Living” for elder citizens
In a major reform aimed at seeking “Ease of Living” for elder citizens, Banks have been instructed to disburse Pension expeditiously in view of the current COVID pandemic. Instructions have also been issued that in case of death of a pensioner, the spouse or the family member of the deceased pensioners should not be subjected to any inconvenience by seeking unnecessary details and documents, and instead the pension should be disbursed at the earliest.
Briefing about the Circular issued by the Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare, Union Minister of State  Development of North Eastern Region , MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh revealed that some instances have been brought to the notice of the Department wherein on the death of a pensioner, the family members of the deceased were asked by the disbursing banks to submit details and documents, which are otherwise not required for commencement of Family Pension. He said, the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to seek “Ease of Living” for all, including the pensioners and, therefore, such inconvenience to the elderly citizens has to be avoided, particularly during the time of the pandemic.
In a communique to the Heads to all the Pension Disbursing banks, it has been instructed that without causing harassment to the family members of the deceased pensioner, the pension should be commenced on the production of the Death Certificate of the deceased pensioner and in case where the pensioner had a joint account with his or her spouse, submission of a simple letter or application should suffice for the commencement of Family Pension.
In cases where the spouse did not have a joint account with the deceased pensioner, a simple application in Form-14 bearing the signature of two witnesses should be held valid for commencement of Family Pension.
The Department of Pension & Pensioners Welfare  has also instructed the banks to conduct special awareness programmes to sensitise the concerned officers, in order to make them aware of the latest instructions as well as for compassionate handling of Family Pension cases.
It has also been instructed that the Bank’s website should prominently display the name and contact details of a Nodal Officer, who can be contacted by a family pensioner in the event of any inconvenience faced in processing Family Pension cases after the death of the pensioner. In addition, a half-yearly statement on progress of sanction of Family Pension cases may be submitted to the Department of Pension in the prescribed format.
It may be recalled that the current reform is a part of a series of such path-breaking reforms undertaken by the Department of Pension recently for the benefit of the pensioners, elderly citizens and their families.
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Parliamentary Committee on Estimate Visits AIIMS, Kalyani
Kolkata, 27 September, 2021
A delegation from the Estimate Committee of Parliament visited the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS, in Kalyani today afternoon.
Led by M.P Girish Balachandra Bapat, the members of the committee visited various departments at AIIMS Hospital and met the hospital authorities. After discussing various issues of the new hospital, they left for Kolkata in the evening.
Leaving the meeting, M.P Shri Jagannath Sarkar said, the AIIMS hospital in Kalyani was going to be the largest medical center not only in West Bengal but in the entire North-East. The parliamentary committee discussed what is needed for this hospital and what the shortcomings are. The report will be tabled in Parliament.
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Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions
A two-day Bankers’ Awareness Program was organized by Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare at Amritsar on 30th & 31StAugust, 2022 for officers of Punjab National Bank handling pension related work, covering the Northern Region of the country
More awareness programs will be conducted in collaboration with other Pension Disbursing Banks in the year 2022-23
A two-day Bankers’ Awareness Program was organized by Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare at Amritsar on 30th & 31StAugust, 2022 for officers of Punjab National Bank handling pension related work, covering the Northern Region of the country.
A team of officers from DoPPW took various sessions on Pension policy reforms& digitization regarding disbursement of pension to Central Government pensioners, with the objective of updating the field functionaries of Punjab National Bank. Special sessions were organized on Income Tax matters related to pensioners as well as Digital means of submitting the Annual Life Certificates. Chief Controller , CPAO shared the reasons which are the causes for pensioner’s grievances and suggested actions which may be taken by the bank for faster redressal.
Discussions were held for linking of Integrated Pension Portal developed by DoPPW with the existing portals of PNB to provide seamless services to pensioners. Awareness of field officials & Pensioners is of utmost importance to ensure implementation and usage of the benefits of Government of India’s welfare measures. Pensioners’ welfare initiatives, such as Face authentication technology for Digital Life Certificate may be advertised extensively by Banks. Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare will take policy initiatives to address issues faced by field officials and pensioners. Digital life certificate and face authentication technology would be a game changer for pensioners and banks in submission of life certificates. As such, these awareness programs serve as a huge capacity building exercise for bank officials.
This program was the first such Awareness Program for Central Pension Processing Centers and field functionaries handling pension related work in Punjab National Bank. Some pensioners drawing pension from PNB also attended the 2nd day of the program for an interactive session with DOPPW and PNB. It is expected that through these programs, the objective of enhancing ‘Ease of Living’ of pensioners will be achieved to a great extent. On similar lines, awareness programs will be conducted in collaboration with other Pension Disbursing Banks in the year 2022-23.
Bankers’ Awareness Program, Amritsar, 30th & 31st August, 2022 was concluded by Sh. Sanjiv N Mathur, Joint Secretary, Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare. Detailed feedback was taken from bank officers on various policy issues to make proactive changes to ensure “Ease of Living” for pensioners. More than 50 officers from northern zone from CPPCs and pension dealing branches were awarded certificate of Participation during valediction ceremony.
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Ministry of Home Affairs
EXTORTION AND KIDNAPPING BY NAXALISTS
As per Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India, ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are State Subjects and as such the primary responsibility of maintenance of law and order lies in the domain of State Governments concerned. However, the Government of India has been Supplementing the efforts of states affected by Left Wing Extremism. Cases related to extortion and damage to property/economic infrastructure are registered, investigated and prosecuted by the State Government concerned.
According to reports, Left Wing Extremist Groups, reportedly resort to extortion from industrialists, businessmen and contractors. The State-wise details of total incidents of kidnapping by LWE and resultant killings during the last three years and in the current year are as below:
|
|
State
|
|
2018
|
|
2019
|
|
2020
|
|
2021

|
|
Bihar
|
|
0
|
|
4
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
Jharkhand
|
|
6
|
|
5
|
|
4
|
|
2
|
|
Odisha
|
|
2
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
Total
|
|
9
|
|
9
|
|
6
|
|
2
The details of cases of extortion by LWE groups and the number of persons arrested/killed in the cases of abductions and extortions are not centrally maintained.
The State Wise details of damage to economic infrastructure by the Left Wing Extremists during the last three years and in the current year are given as below:
|
|
State
|
|
2018
|
|
2019
|
|
2020
|
|
2021

|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
|
1
|
|
2
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
Bihar
|
|
0
|
|
1
|
|
2
|
|
0
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
40
|
|
35
|
|
35
|
|
18
|
|
Jharkhand
|
|
4
|
|
5
|
|
2
|
|
4
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
0
|
|
0
|
|
1
|
|
1
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
6
|
|
12
|
|
5
|
|
1
|
|
Odisha
|
|
6
|
|
9
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
Telangana
|
|
3
|
|
0
|
|
1
|
|
0
|
|
Total
|
|
60
|
|
64
|
|
47
|
|
24
These include attacks on mobile towers, mining infrastructure, railway properties, Government buildings, schools, roads, bridges etc. The quantum of damage to economic infrastructure and persons arrested in these incidents are not centrally maintained.
The Central Government closely monitors the situation and has a multi pronged strategy towards combating LWE including security related measures, development related interventions and ensuring rights and entitlements of local communities.
This was stated by the Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to question in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
First ever Calisthenics World Cup  and Indian Slackline Championship – RUSH Fest 2022 to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence at Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling
Kolkata; March 24, 2022
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute , Darjeeling is holding first ever Calisthenics World Cup  and Indian Slackline Championship to celebrate the 75 years of India’s Independence. This is being held in collaboration with RUSH MEDIA from April 01 to 07, 2022 under the banner of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at HMI, Darjeeling.
Informing about the event, the HMI Principal, Group Captain, Shri Jai Kishan said, the event is first of its kind in the country. Multiple adventure activities are in line to entertain different categories of people at one place. The Fest is an ideal platform to promote FIT INDIA MOVEMENT and Adventure Tourism wherein youth from pan India and overseas countries are participating. He added that the RUSH Fest 2022 is being organized in the country in which top athletes from all across the world will be participating.
Darjeeling has huge potential for adventure tourism which is lying unexplored. We hope that the FEST will go a long way to promote adventure tourism in this area and in turn, would help enhance the local economy and generate employment opportunities for the local unemployed youths, the Group Captain added.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Women Entrepreneurs in the Country
The key challenges for women entrepreneurs in India include access to funding, availability of market, family constraints, lack of confidence in business skills, gender bias etc. In order to address the problems in development of women entrepreneurship, different Ministries/ Departments of Government of India have been implementing a number of schemes viz; Start-up India by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme  including Udyam Sakhi Portal by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises  etc.
Start-up India aims to build a strong eco-system for nurturing innovation and Start-ups in the country under which 10% of the total corpus of Fund of Funds amounting to Rs 1000 crore, has been reserved for women led start-ups. MSME has launched a portal namely “Udyam Sakhi” for encouraging women entrepreneurs and to aid, counsel, assist and protect their interests. Udyam Sakhi network is a platform for emerging Women Entrepreneurs of India to get support, to understand current scenario of industries and to get guidance in various aspects of entrepreneurship. It helps Indian women to start, build and grow businesses and creating business models revolving around low-cost products and services to resolve social inequities. Similarly, Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme , is a major credit-linked subsidy scheme to promote and set up micro, small and medium enterprises and to generate employment in rural and urban areas of the country. The maximum cost of the project under PMEGP scheme is Rs.25.00 lakhs for manufacturing sector units and Rs.10.00 lakhs for units under service sector. Under the scheme the women entrepreneurs are provided 25% and 35% subsidies for the project set up in urban and rural areas respectively. For women beneficiaries, own contribution is only 5% of the project cost while for general category it is 10%. All the entrepreneurs including women are eligible for 2 weeks Entrepreneurship Development Programme  after the sanction of their projects from banks for financial assistance to setup their unit.
Further, to encourage women entrepreneurship within the Country, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship is running a pilot project named ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women’ in collaboration with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit  Germany. The project pilots incubation and acceleration programmes for micro women entrepreneurs to start new businesses and scale up existing enterprises in Assam, Rajasthan and Telangana. The project has the target to pilot the incubation programme with 250 women and the acceleration programme with 100 women.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri R.K. Singh in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Report of Task Force on e-Commerce Policy
A Think Tank on ‘Framework for National Policy on e-Commerce’ was established by Department of Commerce and a Task Force under the Think Tank was set up for preparing recommendations for India’s National Policy on e-Commerce. The Task Force was further divided into 9 sub-groups.The first meeting of the Think Tank was held on 24th April, 2018, meeting of the subgroups was held during 20th - 22nd June, 2018 and the first meeting of the Task Force was held on 6th July, 2018.
Further, the second meeting of the Think Tank was held on 30th July, 2018. Subsequent to the consultations held, Department of Commerce formulated a Draft policy document titled “Electronic Commerce in India: Stakeholder Recommendations Received for a National Policy Framework”. Consequent to the change in Allocation of Business Rules, “Matters related to e-Commerce” has been transferred to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion. The formulation of e-Commerce policy is under consideration of the Government, for which no timeline has been fixed.
This information was given by the Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, C. R. Chaudhary, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers
PMBJKs achieves impressive sales of over Rs 100 crore in first two months of 2020-21 compared to about Rs 40 crore in same period of 2019-20
Affordable Medicines worth about Rs 144 crore sold in March-May 2020 through Janaushadhi Kendras
Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushdhi Kendra's -PMBJKs has achieved an impressive sales of Rs 100.40 Crore in first two months of 2020-21 as compared to Rs 44.60 Crore in same period of 2019-20.
Kendra's have sold approx. Rs 144 Crore worth of affordable & quality medicines in the month of March, April & May 2020 which saved around Rs 800 Crore of citizens during the period when COVID-19 pandemic has affected the country.
"In this tough times of COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to ensure full availability of medicines to all", said Shri DV Sadananda Gowda, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers while expressing satisfaction over important role played by BPPI while implementing PM Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojna  through the network of Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendras .
In the wake of COVID 19 crisis, employees of BPPI, Kendra owners, Distributors and other stakeholders came forward and joined hands for fight against the pandemic. BPPI is standing with its stakeholders and consumers in these challenging times as Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Kendra  are functional and maintaining regular operations as part of their commitment.
BPPI has stated that it is committed to ensure uninterrupted availability of essential medicines at the PMBJK. Kendra's has clocked its highest monthly sales turnover of Rs. 52 Crore despite the lock down and testing times in the month of April 2020 & Rs. 42 Crore achieved in March 2020. BPPI is maintaining adequate stock of the medicines which are currently under demand viz. Face Masks, Hand Sanitizers, Hydroxychloroquine, Paracetamol and Azithromycin. BPPI has sold about 10 lakh face masks, 50 lakh tablets of Hydroxychloroquine in the month of March & April 2020. Envisioning current market demand, BPPI has also placed purchase orders for procurement of these medicines to have enough stock for the next six months. BPPI has also supplied medicines to Ministry of External Affairs for supplying to friendly countries.
Following the lockdown measures in place, over 6300 PMBJKs are functioning across the nation, covering 726 districts of the country. Supporting the governments initiative of practicing social distancing, pharmacists of the PMBJK, now popularly known as “Swasthya Ke Sipahi” are undertaking delivery of medicines to patients and elderly people at their doorstep. Further, BPPI is creating awareness about means to fight against the pandemic vide its social media posts at various platforms. Mobile application ‘Janaushadhi Sugam’ becomes very popular and more than 4 lakh downloads took place. In these ways, BPPI is playing active role in the fight against the outbreak of COVID-19.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Update on COVID-19 Vaccination-Day 14
More than 33 lakh Healthcare Workers Vaccinated across the country
4,40,681 beneficiaries vaccinated till 7 pm today
India has seen a significant hike in the number of healthcare workers getting vaccinated against COVID19, under the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination program.
The cumulative number of healthcare workers who have been administered the COVID19 vaccine has crossed 33 lakh today. A total of 33,68,734 beneficiaries  were vaccinated through 62,939 sessions, as per the provisional report. 10,061 sessions were held till 7 pm today.
4,40,681 beneficiaries were vaccinated till 7 pm today, the fourteenth day of nationwide COVID19 vaccination. Final reports would be completed for the day by late tonight.
|
|
S. No.
|
|
State/UT
|
|
Beneficiaries vaccinated
|
|
1
|
|
A & N Islands
|
|
2727
|
|
2
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
|
1,77,856
|
|
3
|
|
Arunachal Pradesh
|
|
9,226
|
|
4
|
|
Assam
|
|
36,771
|
|
5
|
|
Bihar
|
|
1,10,381
|
|
6
|
|
Chandigarh
|
|
2977
|
|
7
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
|
62,529
|
|
8
|
|
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
|
|
607
|
|
9
|
|
Daman & Diu
|
|
333
|
|
10
|
|
Delhi
|
|
48,008
|
|
11
|
|
Goa
|
|
3391
|
|
12
|
|
Gujarat
|
|
2,16,004
|
|
13
|
|
Haryana
|
|
1,23,935
|
|
14
|
|
Himachal Pradesh
|
|
22,918
|
|
15
|
|
Jammu & Kashmir
|
|
26,634
|
|
16
|
|
Jharkhand
|
|
33,074
|
|
17
|
|
Karnataka
|
|
3,07,752
|
|
18
|
|
Kerala
|
|
1,35,832
|
|
19
|
|
Ladakh
|
|
989
|
|
20
|
|
Lakshadweep
|
|
746
|
|
21
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
|
2,22,193
|
|
22
|
|
Maharashtra
|
|
2,57,173
|
|
23
|
|
Manipur
|
|
3399
|
|
24
|
|
Meghalaya
|
|
4200
|
|
25
|
|
Mizoram
|
|
8497
|
|
26
|
|
Nagaland
|
|
3,973
|
|
27
|
|
Odisha
|
|
2,05,200
|
|
28
|
|
Puducherry
|
|
2299
|
|
29
|
|
Punjab
|
|
54,991
|
|
30
|
|
Rajasthan
|
|
2,73,866
|
|
31
|
|
Sikkim
|
|
1976
|
|
32
|
|
Tamil Nadu
|
|
97,126
|
|
33
|
|
Telangana
|
|
1,57,831
|
|
34
|
|
Tripura
|
|
27,617
|
|
35
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
|
4,31,879
|
|
36
|
|
Uttarakhand
|
|
25,067
|
|
37
|
|
West Bengal
|
|
2,20,356
|
|
38
|
|
Miscellaneous
|
|
48,401
|
|
Total
|
|
33,68,734
213 AEFIs have been reported till 7 pm on the fourteenth day of the vaccination drive.
Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
Skill India Mission to Farmers
The National Skill Development Mission  was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 15th July, 2015, to provide a strong institutional framework to implement and scale up skill development efforts across the country. Under this initative, the Government is implementing more than 40 skill development schemes/programmes across 20 Central Ministries/Departments, for providing a variety of skill development training programmes on pan India basis. As per the information provided by Ministries, 85.98 Lakh persons have been trained in 2018-19.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship  imparts employable skills to the youth through long term and short term training. The Ministry is implementing its flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 2.0  on pan-India basis with a target to provide skilling to one crore people across the country in various sectors including Agriculture. Under the Centrally Sponsored Centrally Managed  component of scheme, as on 12.06.2019, 49.10 Lakh have been trained across the country; out of which 4 lakh candidates have been trained in Rajasthan which include 5628 from Udaipur district.
Further, under Recognition of Prior Learning  component of PMKVY 2.0, up skilling of farmers have been made via bridge course training in the job roles namely organic grower, dairy farmer, pulses cultivator etc. Under this project, 12488 beneficiaries have been enrolled in the State of Rajasthan.
Long term training is imparted through Industrial Training Institutes . There are 1808 ITIs in the State of Rajasthan with a training capacity of 3.59 lakh; out of which 21 ITIs with a seating capacity of 5,584 are in Udaipur. In addition some new trades like Internet of Things  and Soil Testing and Crop Technician have been introduced to keep pace with Technological innovations.
This information was given in a written reply by the Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri. R. K. Singh in the Lok Sabha today.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
Promotion of Sports among Female Students
Khelo India Scheme inter-alia provides for bridging gaps in sports infrastructure. Sports Authority of India  also implements the Schemes of National Sports Talent Contest  and Extension Centres of SAI Training Centres /Special Area Games  Centres with the aim of promoting sports. These schemes are applicable for all, including girls schools and colleges. In financial year 2018-19 this Ministry spent Rs. 1297.39 crore for sports development details of which are as below:-
|
|
S. No.
|
|
Name of scheme
|
|
Expenditure 
|
|
1.
|
|
Development in sports Institutions
|
|
483.83
|
|
2.
|
|
Encouragement and Awards to Sportsperson
|
|
312.32
|
|
3.
|
|
Khelo India – National Programme for Development of Sports
|
|
501.24
“Sports” being a State subject the responsibility of development Sports, including among girls in schools and colleges across the country rests with the State / Union Territory  Governments. Government of India supplements the efforts of State / UT Governments by providing financial assistance through National Sports Federations, training in Sports Authority of India  Centres and support under Khelo India Scheme.
This information was given by the Minister of State  Shri Kiren Rijiju in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.